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I've read here (I think) that one can add service days to a Tracfone
without purchasing more airtime minutes. I've searched the tracfone site
and googled for an answer but can't find a way.
If you know how this can be done, your help will be appreciated.
Thank you for sharing.

Steve

--
"I know that there are people in this world
who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that."
- Tom Lehrer

On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:37:23 +0000 (UTC), "Steve.IA"
wrote:
I've read here (I think) that one can add service days to a Tracfone
without purchasing more airtime minutes. I've searched the tracfone site
and googled for an answer but can't find a way.
If you know how this can be done, your help will be appreciated.
Thank you for sharing.

They call it the "Tracfone Service Protection Plan". Search for it
from their homepage (or use the sitemap link at the bottom).

You have to enroll for automatic monthly payment (I use a credit
card). US$5 per month adds 1 month of service to your phone with no
added minutes. US$60/year.

The next cheapest alternative is to buy a 60-minute airtime card for
US$20 and extend the service time to 1 year for another US$50. A
total of US$70/year.

Dennis wrote in
:
On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:37:23 +0000 (UTC), "Steve.IA"
wrote:
I've read here (I think) that one can add service days to a Tracfone
without purchasing more airtime minutes. I've searched the tracfone
site and googled for an answer but can't find a way.
If you know how this can be done, your help will be appreciated.
Thank you for sharing.

They call it the "Tracfone Service Protection Plan". Search for it
from their homepage (or use the sitemap link at the bottom).

You have to enroll for automatic monthly payment (I use a credit
card). US$5 per month adds 1 month of service to your phone with no
added minutes. US$60/year.

The next cheapest alternative is to buy a 60-minute airtime card for
US$20 and extend the service time to 1 year for another US$50. A
total of US$70/year.

Works as advertised for me.

Dennis (evil)

Thanks, Dennis, I found it. The 'service protection' name was a little
obtuse for me to comprehend. Sounded like an extended warranty of some
kind.
They've raised the price to $6/month, so it makes it slightly cheaper to
buy the 60 card and extend for a year. Don't have to commit to auto
payments that way.
Thanks for your help.

Steve IA

--
"I know that there are people in this world
who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that."
- Tom Lehrer

Dennis wrote:
The next cheapest alternative is to buy a 60-minute airtime card for
US$20 and extend the service time to 1 year for another US$50. A
total of US$70/year.

They now charge $5.99/month for the no-minutes protection, so you're
better off with t he $20+$50. If you already had the lower cost
protection then you keep that lower rate.

Tracfone is now included in the tables at
"http://prepaiduswireless.com/" though it's just to show people how
expensive it is compared to many of the other prepaid plans, both in the
minimum monthly cost and the per-minute cost.

Steve.IA wrote:
Thanks, Dennis, I found it. The 'service protection' name was a little
obtuse for me to comprehend. Sounded like an extended warranty of some
kind.
They've raised the price to $6/month, so it makes it slightly cheaper to
buy the 60 card and extend for a year. Don't have to commit to auto
payments that way.

Remember that the $5.99/month is only charged in months when your
service would otherwise expire. So if you had added an airtime card
which would prevent expiration, you don't get charged the $5.99. I think
they intended it only as last-resort protection, not as something many
people would be paying every month.

The best option for you would be to port your phone number to PagePlus,
then buy a $10 card (for $9.24) every four months, which would bring the
maintenance cost down to $2.31/month. But you have to remember to buy
that $10 card every 4 months.

What I did for my kids is to buy them an $80/1400 minute card (for $73),
then I add a $10/83 minute card (for $9.24), every four months. The per
minute rate is also much cheaper than Tracfone (around 5.4¢).

On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:58:30 -0800, SMS
wrote:
Dennis wrote:
The next cheapest alternative is to buy a 60-minute airtime card for
US$20 and extend the service time to 1 year for another US$50. A
total of US$70/year.

They now charge $5.99/month for the no-minutes protection, so you're
better off with t he $20+$50. If you already had the lower cost
protection then you keep that lower rate.

Hmm, I see you're right --, new subcribers now pay US$6/month.
Fortunately (for me), they are grandfathering existing subcribers at
the US$5/month rate, at least for now. I'll have to keep an eye on my
bill so I don't get caught by an unexpected increase at some point.

Dennis (evil)
--
The honest man is the one who realizes that he cannot
consume more, in his lifetime, than he produces.

On Tuesday, January 20, 2009 6:37:23 AM UTC-5, Steve.IA wrote:
I've read here (I think) that one can add service days to a Tracfone
without purchasing more airtime minutes. I've searched the tracfone site
and googled for an answer but can't find a way.
If you know how this can be done, your help will be appreciated.
Thank you for sharing.

Steve

--
"I know that there are people in this world
who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that."
- Tom Lehrer

Add 30 minute card. 9.99, then 49.99 for the extra year. With taxes and fees it's 65.00 exactly. 5.42 a month. For REAL cheapskates like m who ONLY use the phone for emergencies.

wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, January 20, 2009 6:37:23 AM UTC-5, Steve.IA wrote:
I've read here (I think) that one can add service days to a Tracfone
without purchasing more airtime minutes. I've searched the tracfone site
and googled for an answer but can't find a way.
If you know how this can be done, your help will be appreciated.
Thank you for sharing.

Add 30 minute card. 9.99, then 49.99 for the extra year. With taxes and
fees it's 65.00 exactly. 5.42 a month. For REAL cheapskates like m who
ONLY use the phone for emergencies.

On 12/15/2014 02:40 PM, terrable wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, January 20, 2009 6:37:23 AM UTC-5, Steve.IA wrote:
I've read here (I think) that one can add service days to a Tracfone
without purchasing more airtime minutes. I've searched the tracfone site
and googled for an answer but can't find a way.
If you know how this can be done, your help will be appreciated.
Thank you for sharing.

Add 30 minute card. 9.99, then 49.99 for the extra year. With taxes and
fees it's 65.00 exactly. 5.42 a month. For REAL cheapskates like m who
ONLY use the phone for emergencies.

You are not one of the "REAL cheapskates".

Real cheap is pageplus: $10 every 120 days or $2.50 a month.

HAH! T-Mobile prepaid for $10/YEAR once you've bought $100 worth of
time. Unfortunately I don't think they're offering that any more. I'll
keep pageplus in mind just in case...

--
Cheers, Bev
================================================== ===========
"On the other hand, I live in California so I'd be willing to
squeeze schoolchildren to death if I thought some oil would
come out." -- Scott Adams